Butcher Boy- anon (AR) 1927 Farm Life
[From: Farm Life - Volume 46, Issue 3 - page 16, 1927; reprinted in Arkansas Review: KQAR. - page 199, 1999.
Stanzas 2 and 3 run together and include the "Must I go Bound" stanza.
R. Matteson 2017]
The Butcher Boy- sent in by farm Life reader
1 In New York City where I did dwell,
A butcher boy I loved so well,
He courted all my heart away.
And now with me he will not stay.
2 He took a girl upon his knee,
And told her just what he told me,
Shall I be young, shall I be free?
Shall I love a boy that don't love me?
3. Oh, no, no, no that shall not be.
For I am young and can be free!
Oh, no, no, no that shall not be,
For apples grow on a lily tree!
4. I went up stairs to make my bed,
And nothing to my mother I said.
My mother came upstairs to me.
And said, what matters, daughter, thee?
5. Oh, Willie, Willie, I tell you why,
Because she has more gold than I,
The gold will melt and silver fly,
And she'll be just as poor as I.
6. Her father came and the door he broke
And found her hanging upon a rope.
He took his knife and cut her down,
And in her bosom these words he found:
7. Please did my grave both wide and deep
Place marble slabs at head and feet
Upon my heart a turtle dove
To show the world I died for love.